When I was about five years old, a family moved in next door. They were a family of three- a mother, a father, a little wiener dog, and a daughter who was a year older than me. Her name was Megan. Megan and I immediately clicked. Despite our occasional bickering and fighting, we remained best friends for over five years. Megan had dirty blond hair and blue-green eyes. Like most people, Megan was way taller and bigger than me. Because of this, in the early days of our friendship Megan would boss me around and get me in trouble. Like most kids, we got over it and saw past our differences. We did everything together: going to school, playing in the neighborhood, shopping, everything. I remember going to her house almost every weekend to spend the night. Megan, her parents, and her dog Tinkie basically became my second family. I was right alongside Megan as she grew up, and she was always there for me when I needed her.

So when Megan moved to Forsyth County, we were all devastated. It was like a small part of each of us had disappeared. The other hood rats and I had no one to look up to, no one to tell stupid jokes to, and no one to go on random picnics with. I spent the next several months in a numb, almost depressed state. I seldom went outside because life seemed so dull without my best friend by my side.

The real story begins a few months, maybe a year after Megan moved. I was on one of my rare trips outside to enjoy the day. It was summer, the air was warm and smelled like honey suckles. It was a clear, perfect day, not a single cloud in the sky. I remember the God-awful amount of bees and wasps and mosquitos buzzing around. I could hear the breeze rustling the leaves and the pigeons singing their monotone coo-coos. The intense Georgia heat wrapped me in its arms. It was one of those days where it felt like everything was right in the world.

I was digging around in the dirt, minding my own business, when some of the other kids came over. There was Abby – a girl about a year or two younger than me with bright blonde hair and grey eyes. She wore glasses and had crooked teeth, but had a permanent smile planted on her face. Alongside Abby was her younger sister Hailey. She had strawberry blonde hair and mischievous blue eyes. Hailey was about five or six years old at the time, and somehow had enough energy to outrun a coyote. Abby and Hailey’s grandpa lived a few houses away from mine, so they came to visit every other weekend. They always carried walkie-talkies to communicate with each other and with their grandpa, a custom that the other kids and I thought was strange but reasonable. Next was Jency, the newest kid on the block. Jency was four years younger than me and everyone adored her… except me. I thought she was the most annoying ankle-biter that ever lived. Jency was short and scrawny. She was half Guatemalan, half Moroccan, which resulted in thick dark hair and brown eyes. Since we looked so similar, the other kids used to say we could be sisters, much to my annoyance. Over time, I grew to appreciate Jency and her antics. And lastly, there was Ari, short for Arianna… to say she was irritating was an understatement. She was slightly chubby, had dark skin and fluffy hair, and dark brown eyes. Ari always had a pouty look on her face, and she was the kid that everyone secretly hated. She always got what she wanted, and constantly whined and complained when things did not go her way. I used to despise that demon child but as I matured, I became indifferent.

All four of the little gremlins walked up to me. Abby was in the front and held up some kind of ball.

“Hey Sara! Look at this cool rock we found!” she said excitedly
I feigned disinterest. I continued poking the ground with a stick.
“Who cares about a dumb rock?” I replied sarcastically.
Then curiosity got the best of me and I turned to face Abby. Eyes gleaming, she showed me the rock. It was a perfect sphere, slightly bigger than the size of a lacrosse ball.
“Where’d y’all find this?” I asked, with apparent Southern drawl.
Jency piped up, “We were playing around by the spooky house over there,” she pointed to the long-abandoned house that was next door to Ari’s, “and we saw it by the door.”
“Show me,” I said, my eyes still on the rock.
They looked at each other, then at the creepy abandoned house. We were all silent for a moment, then crossed the cul-de-sac and went towards the house.
Abby pointed to the little corner near the front porch and the door.
“Right here,” she said matter-of-factly
I looked around for a bit, exploring.
“We already looked around and didn’t find anything else!” spat Ari. I glared at her.
“Yeah we tried to find another rock like that one but didn’t see nuthin’” chimed in Hailey.

We returned to my yard. I took the rock from Abby’s hands and got a closer look. I inspected the rough surface, and suddenly it dawned on me that this wasn’t an ordinary rock.

“I have an idea,” I announced.
I walked over to the old, ant-invested tree stump that was near Megan’s old driveway. The stump belonged to a tree that essentially separated my yard from Megan’s. Over the years, it had become a kind of throne to us kids, and we always used it as home base when we played tag. I stood up on the tree stump.

“What are you doing?” questioned Jency
“I’m gonna break it,” I replied excitedly.
Suddenly, I was bombarded with objections.
“No! You can’t break it! That’s our rock!” shrieked Ari, in her usual sassy manner.
“I found it, you can’t break it,” snapped Abby angrily.
“If you break that rock I’ll break your face,” cried Jency, not intimidating in the least.
“You can’t take our rock!” yelled Hailey.
“Everyone calm down. This is a special rock. I think there’s something inside. But there’s no way to find out unless we break it open. I’m gonna throw it on the ground a few times to break it.”

And that’s exactly what I did. I stood up on the stump, drawing in everyone’s attention. Slowly, I raised my little hands which cradled the rock. Then I threw the rock down as hard as I possibly could. The rock landed on the concrete driveway with a loud thud but nothing happened. Well that sucked, I thought to myself. I turned toward the other kids, and they were all staring at me. Ari had a sly smile on her face, which made me furious. I picked up the indestructible stone and tried again. I kept throwing the rock over and over again, even slammed it into a tree trunk a few times, and still nothing happened. Sweating and out of breath, I sat down. I scowled at the rock and disappointment crept up on me like a snake.

I was about to give up completely, when suddenly I thought: Megan would break it if she were here… If I can do this, if I can break this stupid rock, it’ll mean that I’m the strongest and smartest in the group. I’ll be like Megan. With an overdramatic flare, I picked up the rock and stood on the tree stump throne once again. The others looked up at me. I closed my eyes and let out a slow breath. With the force of a bull, I hurled the rock down as hard as humanly possible. Time seemed to stop and I was aware of everything- the sound of the rock whizzing past, one of the kids gasping, a ray of sunlight peeking through the leaves. The rock burst open with a loud CRACK! It split into five uneven pieces. The inside of the rock was a purple-grey, and somewhat hollow. In the center of the rock were milky white crystals that sparkled in the afternoon sun. It was a geode. Abby, Ari, Jency, and Hailey simultaneously leapt into the air and cheered.

“You did it!”
“It actually broke! There really is something inside!”
“ARE THOSE DIAMONDS? WE’RE RICH!”
“Yay! Look how pretty it is!”

And me? I stood there in awe, grinning from ear to ear. In that moment, I thought that I could do anything. I knew that I was no longer a follower, I was a leader. I didn’t need Megan to have fun and go on adventures. I had made my own adventure that day. If you’ve ever read Lord of the Flies, the geode was almost parallel to the conch shell in the novel. I owned the geode, so I was the boss. I still have the geode today, and it’s been nearly five years. It serves as a peaceful memory both for my friend Megan and for my transition into leader of the pack. It’s a reminder that even the most challenging tasks can be accomplished.